Bloomsbury Bridge
Photos
View from Rt 173 on the old mill property. This bridge is 25 yards downstream from a millpond dam.
As of August 2012 the bridge is getting some rust removal and repainting work.
Photo taken by Andrew Pearce in August 2012
BH Photo #237963
Description
This one lane pin connected Pratt through truss was widened to be a full modern two lane bridge. A full girder span was built underneath it, so the truss is just for show.see: http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowse...
HOWEVER it should be noted that the chords and verticals on this bridge are FAR heavier than other single lane bridges of the period in the area.
Several turn of the century photographs of the bridge when it was almost new can be found at http://westjerseyhistory.org/images/hunterdon/bloomsbury/
Hunterdon County, not Warren
Written by Andrew PearceThis bridge is in Hunterdon County, not Warren County. Granted it is right on the county line, because the county line has been the Musconetcong River for a very long time now.
UglyBridges has this one listed as being in Warren County -
http://uglybridges.com/1368791
which is a mistake. Notice the blue sign in picture 4.
Facts
- Overview
- Pratt through truss bridge over Musconetcong River on CR 579 (aka Church Street)
- Location
- Bloomsbury, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and Warren County, New Jersey
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1892, reconstructed 1995
- Builder
- - Toledo Bridge Co. of Toledo, Ohio
- Design
- Pratt through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 105.0 ft.
Total length: 111.9 ft.
Deck width: 39.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.1 ft.
- Skew angle
- 16 degrees
- Also called
- CR 579 Bloomsbury Bridge
Church Street Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.65537, -75.08889 (decimal degrees)
40°39'19" N, 75°05'20" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/492485/4500504 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Bloomsbury
- Inventory numbers
- NBI 2100718
NJ Inter-county I-3-W (New Jersey bridge number)
BH 53240 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 16, 2020: New photos from Art Suckewer
- November 2, 2018: New photo from Art Suckewer
- April 13, 2018: New photo from Art Suckewer
- June 12, 2017: New photo from Dana and Kay Klein
- August 5, 2014: Photo imported by Dave King
- June 29, 2013: New Street View added by Dave King
- August 31, 2012: Updated by Andrew Pearce: updated county data to allow for both counties
- August 24, 2012: Updated by Andrew Pearce: added data pictures and links
Sources
- Hunterdon DPW Report to Freeholders - August 2012 document names the bridge I-3-W and says painting is beginning. Pictures taken today show painting is just beginning. Ipso facto, this is bride I-3-W, because the other bridges on CR5 79 are not getting painted.
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Dana and Kay Klein
- Art Suckewer - Asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/nj/hunterdon/bloomsbury/
Actually, the USGS Topo maps indicate that the Warren/Hunterdon County line runs along the centerline of the river in this area. It does not follow the nearby road. Therefore, this bridge should correctly be listed in both Warren and Hunterdon County. Those "Welcome To County" signs are definitely not a very useful tool to determine where the county line is. I have seen many signs not exactly on the line. It was probably placed at the intersection because there was no easy or tasteful place to put it on the historic bridge, where it would be an obstructive eyesore.